Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-01-18
TUESDAY. JANUARY Is, 1887.
Outrages Upon the People.

Ou4 ahtS OkOAA Wv - NOR~N'
In both New Jersey and Indiana the
Democrats elected last November a
majority of the members of the Gene
raj Assembly. They had two majority
on joint ballot in the Legislature of each
of those States. And yet it is now sup
posed that in both Of them the Repub-
licans will elect United States Senators.
In word bribery and corruption and
fraud and trickery are TO be as success
full in those States this year as KEN
sEDY's sharp practice was in the Ohio
Senate, and consequently in both
houses of the Ohio Legislature, last year.
And just at this very time the country
is about to be treated to a new law
which will put it into the power of the
States of Ohio, Indiana, and New Jer-
sey, or any other States controlled by
INSCRIPTIONS partisans, to place in the
Office of President of the United States
the candidate rejected by the people at
the ballot-box and to exclude from that
Office the candidate elected by the peo-
ple. In 1877 Mr.. TILDEN was counted
out" by the Electoral Commission. But
for the law under which that Commits
sion was organized Mr.. HAYES would
never have been President of the
United States. The public know now
what they did not know then, that the
Republicans would not have been able
to seat HAYES, and indeed would not
have even endeavored to do so, if the
Democrats had stood up for their
rights in both houses of Congress. Mr..
CoSKLINa and those Republican Sena-
tors who agreed with him that the Pre-
sident of the Senate had no right to
count the votes for President and Vice
President of the United States would
have had sufficient moral influence,
and we might say sufficient votes, to
have prevented the unspeakable out
rage which was consummated by the
aid of the law establishing the Electoral
Commission.
Ought the Democrats in Congress to
vote for bill which proposes to put it
into the power of an INSCRIPTIONS
Legislature to provide the method of de-
Gliding what candidate for President of
the United States is entitled to the vote of
the State L? Would it not be better to go
on as we have gone for a hundred years,
trusting to the good sense and patriot
ism of the members of the two houses
Of Congress, seeing that on the only &C.
casion when Congress attempted to sup
plement by legislation the constitutional
provision prescribing how the votes for
President and Vice-President shall be
counted, the choice of the people was
not only not respected but the man
whom they had rejected was placed at
the head Of fifty millions of people?
What's in name? The Electoral
Commission law was what operated to
stife the voice of the people in 1877.
The electoal-count bill is the bill which
it is now proposed to substitute for the
twelfth Article of Amendments to the
Federal Constitution.
II the State Legislatures cannot be
relied upon to elect United States Sena-
tors, can they be trusted to provide the
means of deciding fairly who is elected
President of the United States ?
This is the important duty which they
will have to perform should the electo-
ral-count bill become law.
But again The bill we are consider
ing provides that if the two houses of
Congress shall differ in opinion as to
which Of two sets of returns are the
genuine ones, the returns certified to be
correct by the Executive of the State
shall be accepted as correct, What a
power TO put into the hands of con-
scienceless Governor Think of what
would have been the result i'll 1876 had
such law been in force then Two
sets Of returns from several States
having Radical carpet-bagger or scala
wag Governors. Think of intrusting
such a power to BEAST BUTLER, who
was only few years ago the Governor
Of Massachusetts,.
II may be said that the two houses of
Congress viii in the end decide who
has been elected President of the United
States. But surely if these two houses
cannot be safely intrusted with this
power without having in the several
States Legislative and executive action to
sustain their decision, il would be a
crime to throw upon those two houses
the responsibility of electing as Presi-
dent OF the United States a man
who, il the action OF one or
more OF the State Legislatures
or Executives has TO be respected, had
been defeated by the people. Why
complicate matters? Would SHERMAN
vote to connt the vote of Ohio for
Democrat after the partisan Legisla-
ture or Governor Of Ohio had decided
that il ought to be counted for Re
publican?